Kyle and her husband moved to Brookfield in 1986. She became active in local politics and started blogging in 2004. Her focus is primarily on local issues but often includes state and national topics, too. Kyle looks at things from the taxpayers' perspective in a creative, yet down to earth way, addressing them from a practical point of view.

"Of the eight insurers listed, Medicare is most likely to reject a claim, sending away 6.85% of requests. This is more than any private insurer and double that of the private insurers’ average!"

The big question for seniors seeking medical treatment is, will Medicare cover it? Even when retirees purchase supplemental plans to cover the portion of their bill that Medicare does not pay for, they are still at the mercy of Medicare coverage, not even the supplement will step in. Bottom line: If Medicare doesn't approve of it, it is an out of pocket expense.

The number of claims Medicare receives, 6,938,431, and rejects, 475,566, is much higher than the private sector providers, but outside of Aetna, with it's 43,317 denials (6.8%) on 637,239 claims, the remaining 6 private insurers with their total of 55,708 denials on 1,805,002 claims scored better.

At least when a claim is denied under private insurance, you still have the option to appeal or to provide more information. (I have had to do that at times with mixed results.) But if the government provider rejects you, who do you go to to appeal?

By the way, not all in the AMA support the public option. “...some member physicians at the group’s annual meeting [in June] likened the notion to communism.”

If we are to reform healthcare, shouldn't we be improving the current system instead of making it worse? Shouldn't we be allowing more choice in treatment methods, more control over price of treatment, and lowering the cost of treatment?

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